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J3 - 20th Century Limited
The'' 20th Century Limited ''was a passenger express service that ran from New York to Chicago from the early 20th century to the mid 1960's. It was hauled by a New York Central Class J3 "Hudson" - whose streamlined shape is quite distinctive from other streamliners of the day. The locomotive was originally for Admins only, but the train was released to the public on October 13th, 2019, along with many other steam locomotives, in the Steam Update. Description 20th Century Limited The 20th Century Limited was a passenger express service that had its beginnings in 1902, when the New York Central Railroad (NYC) started to run luxury services between New York City's Grand Central Station and Chicago's LaSalle Street Station. The service was aimed to attract first-class and business-class travelers; with few stops along the journey, the service shortened the time between the two major cities. The service ran along the NYC's "Water Level Route", the time between the cities was about 15 hours, and most of the distance would be traveled at night. Sleeper and dinning cars were available on the train, and the last car served as a lounge and panoramic-viewing car. It also was started to compete with long-time rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and their New York-Chicago route, the Broadway Limited. Both services were started in 1902, and at the time the Broadway Limited was named the Pennsylvania Limited. The traveling public and the media were both impressed with the opulence and grandeur of the train; the New York Times stated its style was "spectacularly understated". Passengers would be greeted by porters who would give carnations to men and flowers to women, and the phrase "Red Carpet treatment" was used in conjuncture with the luxury service, as passengers would board the train walking atop of a crimson-red velveteen carpet. In 1938, famous Industrialist, Henry Drefuss, was asked by the NYC to introduce a newly designed locomotive for their flagship service, the 20th Century Limited. The NYC wanted it in the Art Deco style, which was a prominent fashion and architectural style in the 1920's and 1930's. The style represented wealth and affluence, which was a big draw for customers. These streamlined sets were inaugurated on June 15, 1938, with much fanfare. They were dubbed, the J3 "Hudson", which themselves were named after the Hudson river in New York because the president of the NYC had a clear view of it from his office window. These trains are the most recognizable works that were designed by Henry Dreyfuss, and are thought to be one of the most famous American steam locomotives internationally. J3 "Hudson" The J3 was an iteration of preexisting locomotives, the J1 and J2 Classes. These trains were of extremely good quality, and came into being by mixing several traits of the 4-6-2 Pacific and the 4-8-4 Berkshire types to get the 4-6-4 Hudson. After it's construction and inauguration, all 4-6-4 locomotives were named "Hudson", as it was first built and used in the United States and North America. Not all Hudson's were streamlined, some were used to haul freight, were streamlining and looks weren't nearly as important as they were on a passenger train. Most J2's and J3's were streamlined, with a good amount of J1's being streamlined as well. All three classes were used heavily in New York Central advertisements. The Hudson's were not exclusively used on NYC track or on the 20th Century Limited, it was used on services such as the Empire State Limited, a New York City to Buffalo route operated by the NYC. It was used by several other railroads, such as the Boston and Albany Railroad; Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway; Michigan Central Railroad; and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway. While the trains were excellent at higher speeds, they preformed poorly at low speeds. The need for a booster to start the train was a must, it acted similarly to the way an APU does on an aircraft. These trains were more suited to straight and flat routes rather than hilly or curvy routes due to the poor performance at lower speeds. A few months after its first inaugurated run with the NYC, two Hudson's were displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The fair held a transportation exhibit, that was situated on 17 acres or 6.88 hectares, of land that was used to showcase the beginnings of the railroads, automotive industry, and aircraft industry and the future of transportation. As railroads were a major part the transportation of passengers and freight, it was of moderate interest to most people, many attendees got to the fair by train, and it was a great way for railroads to attract new customers. The J3 had competition at the fair as it did out in revenue service. The Pennsylvania Railroad sent their record-setting, S1, which stands as the longest and heaviest reciprocating steam locomotive that was ever built. The S1 was put on a set of rollers, and the train would run at 60 mph all day. The British railway company, London Midland and Scottish Railway sent their very own express trainset; the Coronation Scot. ''The locomotive used to haul the service was the '''LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 ''Duchess of Hamilton'''. ''General Motor's Electro-Motive Division sent several of their new streamlined Diesel-Electric passenger trains. The Italian's sent their record-breaking ETR-200 to the fair for display. As time progressed, the J3 fell out of favor with the railroads. In 1945, the NYC replaced the J3 with newer, more technologically advanced diesel-electric locomotives and newer steam locomotives, like the 4-8-4 ''Mohawk, these trains were a combination of features from several different locomotive types, just like how the 4-6-4 Hudson's ''were designed and created. J3's were slowly taken off flagship routes like the ''20th Century Limited ''and the ''Empire State Limited. The last two Hudson's were sold to the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway in 1948, they ran with company until they were both scraped in 1954. After their retirement and subsequent scrapping, the NYC struggled to survive in a harsh and rapidly dying industry. With the onset of faster or more convenient modes of transportation, such as the plane and automobile, passenger railroads tried desperately to cling onto the little ridership they had left. In 1968, the NYC merged with it's long standing rival, the PRR, to for Penn Central, which only few years later would go bankrupt.Category:Admin-only Category:Steam